take place a week from saturday on the campuses of ohio state and virginia commonwealth. vice president biden kicked off the general election with a word of warning to supporters, writing, no matter what you're try thinking or what the polls say, this race will be neck and neck. in a lot of states the margin of victory or defeat could be a handful of votes. a new poll today confirms that. we've talked about sporta verse sparta. what can we expect for the next couple months? >> i think you have to watch where the president's approval rating stays. if he's -- all long as he's both a little south of 50% and as long as you have the unemployment rate creeping up, or job growth not being as strong as it could be, he's going to have to ride the economic cycles of recovery or stagnation. structurally there's ever reason

why the race will be close. i think there's a narrative fashion here. for president obama this is not 2008, whether it's the gap among young people, a lot of that inspiration and hope is being dashed by the idea that one way or the other he's been gobbled up by washington. so it's a different sort of fight that he's got to wage. when he went up against pu president bush. >> the biden comments make me think it's going to be obviously hard drabble, but will it get nasty? >> i mean, it would be nasty. it's going to be a close-fought race, and that usually portends a nasty race, they try to take each other out by whatever means necessary, and romney has shown himself willing to do that. and i think they're trying to frame a tough argument against governor romney saying he's a

right wring extremist. >> we have already started to see some of the lines of attack that we saw in 2008 with the rock star president, and whether he's really prepared to run the country. i want to place an american cross roads ad that came out today. ♪ so in love with you >> nice. >> he's a jack [ bleep ]. ♪ that reminds me of a 2008 john mccain ad. let's play that for our home viewing audience. >> he's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead? >> he's the biggest celebrity, he's friends, pals around with kanye west.

the cool attack, it looks like it's going to come back for 2012, the indubable mark hall paren this morning on "morning joe" made the case that he was perhaps skeptical, and instead strategy 'tises are say if they were giving advice to the romney team, mitt romney needs to prove his human bona fides to the american public. pinches he can't run as a global cosmic rock star. the good news for romney is that obama can't, either. it's something in 2008 when everyone pours your heart, soul and all the different aspirations into you, which is what happened, but now he's had to get his hands dirty, made compromises. he's won some, lost a bunch, so i don't think he appeals to people in the same way.

he didn't work very well for mccain when he launched this line in 200. it ran aground quickly, because people were gaga about him. people are not gaga about him anymore. it's hard to imagine this will play -- >> don't you think the leno stuff and -- and sam, you're a fan of late night television -- >> i am not. >> it reminds us how at ease the president is in is a number of formats. >> obviously mitt romney we agree is a bit stiff on the trail, so the contrast is apparent, and i think the ads are silly, but to the extent that it's different than '08, at this juncture, obama has real governs responsibilities. if you can say here's a guy going on jimmy fallon, and likes to talk about kanye west, and while the unemployment rate is still above 8%, you know, there might be -- might be able to tar him a bit. that's the only distinction between the mccain ad in 2008,

when obama literally was a candidate celebrity with very little responsibility. >> that was about experience. they're trying to use this differently, whiches to say he's got this cool factor, but meanwhile, rural be off than four years ago? the point is there's ten different ways to say the economy is still in a bad place. they'll find 10 and 20 ways to say that. that's how you run against this president. >> but onthat's a very effective way of getting at it. the world is changing fast, and people leek a president who sort of lives in the modern era. that ad probably works well at the brookline country club where mitt spends some of his time, but i don't think it works well for most voters. >> who didn't love kanye west? don't answer that. >> i think it's getting off the point. >> to david's point about the preoccupation with that he ricks, the student loan debate

is a good jumping off point. john boehner has called the president's push on the stay tuned loans that ee theatrics, scenes, the political translation for that's a very effective tactic. that means we don't really have a good answer, because we don't want to be against students. young voters are a huge group of voters in this election, might be pivotal. they don't have a good handle on him if you're in the republican parties. it means, uh-oh, we don't have a good answer for that. that tells you that's a shrewd tactic. >> the fact of the matter is student loan rates will double on july 1st. you have to get -- this congress has proven that it waits forever until the very end to get anything done. if you want to not do that this

time, you have to get started. it's not theatrical to say let's figure out a way before we have to jam it through and the rates goes up to double. >> when the president was saying michelle and i only paid off our student loans eight years ago. that was five years before becoming president. he understands this, i think it resonates. i thought the president's language and being sort -- almost offensive about his position on it was very strong. let's listen to the sound from yesterday. >> then you have the spokesman for the speaker of the house, who says we're -- mean me, my administration -- we're just talking about student loans to distract people from the economy. now, think about that for a second. these guys don't get it. this is at the economy. if you do well, the economy does well. this is about the economy. >> well, these guys don't get it. >> yeah. >> that's what this is about i

want there you get to the sort of subtext of what the whole sort of the chapter we're in now in this campaign, which is to separate the voters from the republican party, and at least create in their minds a sense that one party is moving forward, as the without tells it, and another just isn't it, which you fundamental american politics. that's exactly what all reelection campaigns are all about. >> the future. >> exactly e. versus the past, the change up versus the change you fear. so he is using this not simply to push back on the issue, but also just so sort of wedge one party from another. >> you talked about how nasty this is going to be, remember all these ads will be blank etting ads in battleground states against president obama, against the democrats, but particularly against the president's report on the economy, and the president will have plenty of money to spend, too, ripping off mitt romney's face, you know. [ laughter ] >> here's the down side of that.

i think that we saw this in the republican primary campaign. there's so much negative, it will hurt everybody. now, the legacy of this debt debacle last summer is washington really took a hit, which is why the president wants to equate romney with all things republican, because they're not popular here and government doesn't work well. the extent to which he can get out under the plame of that is what he's really trying to do. so ultimately republicans will find ten different ways to say the economy is in really bad straits because of the president obama. he was here, he led, this is where we are. and he's got to somehow talk about if i could have only done -- >> what's interesting some '08 obama had an easy answer, i want to move past this traditional par sanship. he's stuck with that partisan image. you ask people who is best to change washington, obama or romney. it's almost universally romney. he doesn't have the quick

rejoinder. he actually has to be negative. >> perhaps that's because nobody is quite sure what romney is about. we have to go to break, but coming up, as we approach the one-year anniversary, vice president biden gives a major speech, but he also uses it to -- we'll take a closer look behind the scenes at the killing of bin laden, next on "now." tha? two covergirls. that's right. get two miracles in one product. covergirl makeup... and olay advanced hydrating serum. it's new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation. one pump... covers spots, lines... and wrinkles. and one bottle helps improve skin tone over time. that's what i was supposed to say now. well, no one can understand you. ♪ new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation from [ babbling ] ...covergirl. that's what i'm talking about. see? what did you just say? i'm looking for some "beeza-beeza-vuza-vuza."

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i want before, thanks to president obama, obama is dead and general motors is alive. you have to ask yourself, had governor romney been president,

could you have used the same slogan in reverse? that was vice president joe biden this morning making the case for the administration's record on foreign policy while trumpeting one of the president's top accomplishments. a new article in "time" magazine "in the room" shows the decision to take out the most -- times graham allison writes the most experienced member, robert gates, opposed the raid. vice president joe biden also felt the risks of act rather than waiting outweighed the benefits. the next morning in a reception room, obama told them it's a go. an amazing story, mike duffy. ticktock undermines the granular details you get in this piece, but it's almost a year to the

anniversary. do you think when it's all said and done, the president has made some momentmental accomplishments, is this a defining moment. >> certainly the defining triumph, if there's a second term of his presidency so as far as. whether the public kashs about a s.e.a.l. team mission -- we probably will hear a version of that every day somewhere, maybe not nationally, but that line will get re-told over and over. >> here is my thinking, that it worn. it doesn't fit the defining narrative of this president's campaign and leadership. if you go to the decision itself, i remember talking to a

high-ranks official, who said it was an extremely tough call, and it could have gone south and it would have been a disaster. you go back to eisenhower who made the decision to finally go on d-day and waits a full five minutes, and he says go. and the president, and biden says, look, we had to give him a recommendation and he had to make a decision. it's a very important decision, but i don't think it comports with what defines his leadership. you know, the truth is we don't know whether romney would have made that call. that's the advantage of being president. he was the one in the room who had to make that call, and it worked out very very well. >> but one of the best things about the story, it's not just that moment. it's the thing he put in place, closing the loops, conferring with just a limited number of advisers, you know how you keep a secret?

washington? don't tell anybody, including the vice president. that is an incredible and very compelling character sketch. >> i think it's endemic of his leadership. he's willing to take the tough calls with no regard for his own political future, and only regard for what's in the best interests of the country. getting rid of osama bin laden was clearly in the best interests of the american people. all the risks railroad steeredly personal for him. it's about doing what's the best -- >> but he's -- i agree with you, but let me revise it from this point. unlike bush killing bin laden would have fit needily. the president, this is a key moment of leadership, and tough calls. >> and tough calls, and it could have gone bad, and he put an emphasis -- but there was a lot of continuity, a lot of professionals working to track him over two administrations, so

in many ways this was not a very partisan operation. >> but a singular decision. >> i think we have gone the obvious indication of how they are going to use this,. >> the same with the economy. >> i think that's affected what david is getting at, is that the issue just isn't that predominant as it was in 2004, and certainly 2006 i mean, we certainly know what is happening internationally makes for an unpredictable summer, and we're beginning to see in many ways the republican party is in a difficult position in temple of formulating a coherent foreign minister strategy.

i want to make a sound of marco rubio talking about a laying out of foreign policy strategy yesterday. >> our greatest successes have always occurred in partnership with other like-minded nations. america has acted unilaterally in the past, and i believe it should continue to do so in the future when necessity requires. but our preferred option, since the u.s. became a global leader, has been to work with others to achieve our goals. >> that, i mean that could have come from the president. >> given by president obama four years ago? last week? >> two months from now? >> almost word for word. really interesting. to me the bin laden thing tees up one other narrative, and it may matter if there's a foreign minister crisis. the president took eight months. he found out that the guy is there in august, he aims for eight months. he unloads a process that's

extremely rigorous, maybe didn't -- maybe that was a risk he didn't need to take. i guess the question for me is moth foreign policies don't give you eight months, maybe eight hours, maybe eight days, so the question is, can he take this process, which he is there bragging about, and will it apply for crisis that are not favorable -- >> can you -- that president obama has passed that test? and the american pep believes that's the case. what in this election will be far more important is who will lead us out of economic malaise and who will make washington work. it's not like we haven't been through this before. ross perot was saying some of these things. but we are in a singular moment where people are down on big institutions, and almost -- i think jung people in apathy, you couple disgust and

disillusionment and disaffection, it leads to a certain irrelevancy of big institutions. that is the leadership question. the study of how this president makes the decision i think is interesting, but at the moment, hey guys, what do you do about that we're facing real problems. that's the opening for romney. i think the polls indicates and solve problems we don't seem to be able to solve. >> and the robert draper book that's basically going to be released opens with this wonderful annex dote that all of the house republican leadership, some of the senate rep leadership, and some of the rep consultants on the night of the inauguration, plotting about how to get obama out of office. so from hour 1, they were effectively trying to make those institutions not work.

who guess tarred with that? obama. the polling numbers don't think he's a change agent anymore and somebody needs to change washington. a lot of that is through no fault of his own. >> i think they call it a collective buzzkill on the part of the party. we have to go to break. my sincere thanks for david gregory, who will be on "meet the press" on sunday. joins his roundtable is hillary rosen. what's now for gingrich? the gingrich edition is next. time for the trend of the week. cleveland attorney had an idea

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but i've learned a lot. i was talking to my grandchildren last night, what will you do? what will you do? i said i'm going to be a citizen. as a citizen, i will be in tampa. as a citizen i will talk about what we should do as a party. >> that was newt gingrich this morning in north carolina discussing what role he will have now that he's announced he's suspending his campaign next tuesday. welcome to a special edition of "what now" which we're calling "what newt?" alicia, wonderful to see you in person here in washington, d.c. >> thank you, alex. i don't know if "shed a tear" is the right phrase, but the impending departure has a lot of us in the political chattering class perhaps a little sad for the loss of color and antics. what do you make as his proposed role as a citizen in tampa. >> i don't think he has the capacity to be just a citizen. he brings an selectual half to

this discuss that quite frankly i don't think mitt romney does and an intellectual purity. so i think for republicans to continue to have newt gingrich continue to be a part of the discussion. >> dee dee, white house, calling his intellectually clear? >> i called him hefty. >> as he pursues or tries to keep power, therefore i would like to hope his apparent decision to end his campaign. >> yeah, i think that's right, we see the worst of newt gingrich whether during he tenure as speaker or other periods where he's tried to assert himself in a substantive way, as opposed to trying to provide an avalanche from the sidelines, which -- one of them is genuinely interesting. >> like the shark that dies when

it stops swimming, newt perishes if he stops talking. there's really no difference between a newt gingrich running for president and one who is not. >> there's more desperation when he's running. >> i suppose that's right, but all he did was get out in order to preserve his future financial -- >> he's milking the exit. >> who does that? >> two things here. the meeting i talked about prior to the break. he hayes a role to play. he probably would continue to play a role, but i also think that it's fun to laugh at the stops at the zoo he made -- >> he has a stop -- tomorrow. >> fair enough. >> but there will be a historical significance. he will go down as the first casualty of the super pac in a presidential election. we'll look back as his campaign was the first to get submarined by an entity not related to a

competing campaign. >> we have to leave it there, but it's important to note his super pac has millions in there. something tells me newt gingrich in his inventive weighing will figure something out. coming up, it may be the year of a woman, but a new battle is brewing over a crucial measure to protect them. tom, check this out. good gravy, bill. our insurance company doesn't have anything like it.

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this supposed war on women or the use of similarly outlandish rhetoric by partisan operatives has two purposes, and both are political in their purpose and effect. that was senator john mccain striking back at democrats today. both sides of the aisle have been going after it over duels plans. senate democrats want to expand protections to gays and lesbians, immigrants and

native-americans, but house republicans refuse to do that and are planning to pass their own version next month. joining us now legal director of the human rights campaign brian molten. >> thanks for having me, alex. >> we're talking about the violence against women act. i want to quote something from the hard-hitting journalist of "the daily beast." she's writing in "the washington post" this week -- republicans will have to answer to the women and men trying to escape domestic abuse, who may never receive the help they need, because they're not the right kind of victims in the eyes of today's laws and the politicians who write them. this brings focus back to social issues where republicans and democrats traditional disagree, one being rights for lbgt americans. >> right. i think the reauthorization reflects what domestic violence service providers have provided,

and one of those is certainly that gays and lesbians, transgender people who try to utilize these services encounter sdrem nation, misunderstanding, they're not taken seriously, and all this reauthorization is trying to do is make sure that's not happening. so i think it's really cynical and callous to call that a political effort, when really we're just trying to fix the problems that the people who do this work have identified. >> i wonder, though, this is clearly a political calculation on some level, on the democrats' parts, expanding this and knowing that it's going to draw republicans out on the issue. i wonder, given the president's record thus far, we know he's repealed don't ask/don't tell, but certainly folks have been probably dismayed at his recent move not signing an executive order banning -- sorry, barring -- certainly his fuzzy position on gay marriage, do you feel like in some ways this is

political tunism from the left? >> you know, i think this is really a bill that's been worked on for some time now, not just coming out of nowhere, and it really was about identifying places the law needs to be fixed and frankly i don't think there's any surprise that there's a federal law that doesn't address the needs of the community adequately community. this is an opportunity to fix one of those problems. this is a bill that was up and being considered. >> i want to open open it up to our panel here. going back to the war on women discussion, one of the things most striking about this current debate is republicans for the first time are having republican women come out in support of republican measures. i believe it was sandy adams talking about her abusive husband, tries to pain a picture, that they're not insensitive to women's needs, they just don't agree. dee dee, do you think it's effective?

>> i think they have a long, long way to go. it's like all of a sudden he woke up and discovered a 16-point gender gap, and my gosh, we ought to organize something to show we actually care about women. so republican women in the house are creating a women's policy committee and young guns are creating a women's division, so trying to create these vehicle toss show they care about women. in fact the policies are the problems, not the lack of organizations. >> even as they try to coalesce support, it's divisive. we care about women, but not native-american women, not immigrant women, not lbgt women, and when you look at the visas for immigrant women, dhs undershot on the number of visas they were asking for. they thought they were being quite reasonable, thought they were proposing something republicans could get on board with, and it's really just republicans broadband radical on this. >> this is just a reminder that the house republicans are going to be the single best ally

barack obama has in the fall campaign. you know, how many romney voters are there among the gay lesbian, transgender, native-american and immigrant community? not many. this is a classic set up, like lucy and the football. the democrats are being incredibly shrewd to put it out there and everyone is playing their part perfectly. >> it's playing more broadly. it was reauthorized -- >> for 20 years almost. >> isn't that the point? if you look at the bill on the surface and study the top lines of what it does, it should not be controversial. i don't think anyone in america will -- not many will like and say we should have a debate. just get it down. there's a growing frustration that everything has to be tangled up. people just want to stop that. the more they feel like they

have to win thinks -- >> it play toss what we saw before, the guys don't get it. so i think both sides -- to me this is just -- because at the end of the day, the only thing anyone will take article is the name of the bill that didn't get passed. and well, if this doesn't pass, i'm going to vote for the other one. >> it was teed up to pass. >> and then people all of a sudden you are doubling back. let's here what john boehner had to say. >> they wanted to manufacture a fight, and provide fodder for a campaign ad. >> that's -- this is december. >> don't make me vote for this.

it might not be in my interests. >> these are manufactured about women's rights and education. no they're not, this is about equality,end parity, about education, and carries the economy forward. >> they don't get that people actually care about this stuff. >> the white house knows these things work, but it's not mutually exclusive that good policy goes hand in hand. the act needs to be reauthorized. just do it. there's no real reason not to. >> a little slogan you may have heard before -- just do it. ryan moulton, thank you sorry we couldn't get more of in here, but this issue is not going away and we hope to see you soon. >> thank you. and. "rolling stone quest executive

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more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. it's grow time. get one-quart perennials, four for just $10. when "rolling stone" was meeting with barack obama, he was shuffling between the easter egg roll and a meeting with hillary clinton. how is the president gearing up for what he says will be a close reelection battle? it's part of the extensive interview in the latest edition of requesting rolling stone." joining us from new york city is "rolling stone" executive eric bates, who is at the oval office sit-down. i'm sad you're not in new york -- i'm sad i'm not in new york to discuss this with you. >> sad you're not here. >> you have been also in the room, i've been told, in 2010 with the interview, and as someone who sat in on on both

interviews, what is the biggest change you have seen since he took office? >> i would have to say this time he seeped more somber, and definitely in full campaign mode. he ducked some questions. i hate to say it's taking its toll, but you can tell it's a tough job, and now he's about to add a campaign on top of that, so seemed even more measured than usual. the first one i said to talk about is the president's parsing of who is a republican and who is part of the republican party. what clear le happened is a shift to the agenda.

he really led with that, of making that distinction. when i talk about republicans, ike talking about this caucus in congress and the primary scenes. so the extremism, and the kind of return to that point over and over again, talking about the extremism of the republican caucus's position and how that needed to be addressed. >> and conveniently, dee dee and mike just shaking their heads. that's clearly a -- >> i hear bill clinton. i hear bill clinton. >> with whom 'been consulting with. he's leaves the door open for right of center to vote for him. you don't want to be with those people, oar not one of them. you're one of us, or you can be one of us. there's room for you here. he's welcoming them.

>> and part of a fairly recent white house pivot to make it a little more partisan, to make voters choose, as we saw they top, they guys don't get it, are you with them or not? they're using this period between april and may so sort of force this as a choice. i think the intervite gets right at that. >> i was surprising he touched on climate change action and he set it was something he would be bringing up in the election cycle. >> it's one of the first times he's addressed it correctly in a long time, but yeah, he was hitting environmental issues over and over again during the bur view, that he clearly plans to make an issue in the fall campaign. >> he said specifically, i

suspect over the next six months this will be a debate that will be part of the campaign and i will be very clear that we're going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change. do you think that will actually happen? i shouldn't say that. >> i think gas prices are forcing his hands. he does a very good job in this interview recognizing that canada will only make so many concessions. he's walking that line. what he's essentially saying action i'm going to win so well that all republicans will submit to my authority, and all those promises i couldn't get done in the first. >> and soda in the water fountains, and make recess a half hour longer. sorry. >> there's some legitimacy to

the fact that he will be less hindered and more forceful as a second-term president. certainly he will try to jam things through congress, but the idea that all of a sudden the filibuster is gone is absurd. in fact the 60-vote threshold he actually had won't even be close to that. so he can make they promises about climate change, about immigration reform, but at some point you meet actual voting realities irmgts and certainly if there is a democratic president? the oval office, republicans will do everything in their power to imagine it as unpalatable as possible. >> yes. >> another interesting talking, the president talking about race. he says when i traveled around the country, a lot of people remark how inspiring to see an african-american president or first lady must be to black boys and girls. you shouldn't also underestimate

the facts there are a lot of little white girls and white boys who just take it for granted therein an afric african-american president. that's the president they're growing up with, and that's changing attitude. we don't hear him often talk about the precedent-setting nature. >> i thought that was a very smart and moving answer, but he prefaced this by saying i never bought this post racial politics. he said race is complicated, it's a matter of the heart as much of the head, but he did acknowledge the symbolism of having him in office and what it means to an upcoming generation of children and how that would shape the country in years to come. >> one of the things that's been surprising to a lot of people is how difficult it is for the first african-american president to talk about, and i remember the skip gates and cambridge police, and tray von martin, you know -- >> loaded comments. >> it's so fraught that generally he stays well away from it.

and what that means, but that's about it. >> but it's almost insimultaneousing that just because we elected a black president that his issues would somehow stop mattering or go away or become less sensitive. in the '08 campaign, they avoided race almost at all costs. it reminded people he went to a predominantly black church and they don't see up side to it. >> when you look at the research analysis about the democrat graphic change, it's -- how it's going going to change life. and so the fact he's found a way to talk about this, i would imagine pivoting to a totally unser subject, or perhaps it's

certificate. talking about singing at the apolla. he said he was actually trying to aid void it. me thinks the president doth protest too much. the only thing is everywhere i go, somebody wants me to sing. my whole point the fewer the performances, the higher the ticket price, so you don't want to overdo it. >> did he sing any notes? >> i he didn't. we suggested he do so, but he was also very, very cocky about this. he bakley said at one point, i sing, i knew i could hit those notes. >> everybody wants me to sing, and when i say everybody, i mean me. pinches doesn't it remind you of the scene in "anchorman" where it's play a jazz flute, and no, no, no, and he pulls a flute out of his pocket. >> but if you can sing like he can, why not? clinton played a sax.

>> it's a dangerous trend. both romney and obama have sung for us in the last couple months. i'm worried about the fall. >> i'm worried about romney ever singing again. the man cannot carry a tune. >> in the retelling, they're just exhausted like he just sort of decided it, because it was a why the hell not, and all the press was is this livening um? and it's like, no, he's tries to enjoy pieces of this campaign. >> there is organic moments like that on the trail when they become iconic, because they do reveal something about the candidate, the person, and what we saw with obama is that he wanted to sing. >> the dude can carry carry a tune. >> eric bates, i will sing with you the next time i see you in new york city, but i any tonedeaf. andrea mitchell reports is just minutes away. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters,

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but that label can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and we don't want to go there. so let's try to see people for who they really are. you can help create a more united states. the more you know.

that's all for now. thanks to sam stein and dee dee miers, alicia me anyone decent and michael duffy whose book is on sale now. i'll see you tomorrow when i'm joined by "the washington post's" ezra klein, the a.p.'s casey hunt, "new york times" mark leash ovich, and gop strategist bill muser. until then follow us to twitter. "andrea 34i67le reports" is next. chris cillizza is in for andrea, seven, sir, like having aquaman and superman at the same place at the same time. >> it's a rip in the time continuum. it worries me. your show tomorrow looks

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